Wednesday, September 19, 2018

Every year BMC
Software conducts a survey of mainframe usage that provides a unique insight into the
trends, topics, and over outlook for mainframe computing. And every year I look
forward to digesting all of the great information it contains. The results were presented in a webinar on September 19th (the date of this post).

This year’s survey
contains responses from over 1,100 executives and technical professionals
ranging in age from 18 to 65+ years old, and with experience levels of 30+
years to less than a year on the job. People were surveyed across a multitude
of industries, company sizes, and geographies. And the consensus is that
mainframe is key to the future of digital business.

At a high level, the
survey indicates that we are working to scale and modernize the mainframe to
support new business. And part of that is embracing DevOps practices in the
mainframe environment to optimize application delivery.

With a heritage of more than 50 years of driving
mission-critical workloads, the mainframe continues to be a powerful and
versatile platform for existing and new workloads. Yes, organizations are
embracing the mainframe for the new world of mobile computing, analytics, and
digital transformation. And that include modernizing mainframe applications
because critical apps continue to grow in size and importance. Modernization
efforts range from increased usage of Java to API development and encrypting
sensitive data. And 42% say that application modernization is priority.

The mainframe’s strengths are many, as this survey clearly
shows. Year after year, mainframe strengths have included high availability,
strong security, centralized data serving, and transaction throughput – and
those strengths were again highlighted this year. But a new strength this year
is that new technology is available on the platform. It is clear that IBM’s
hard work to ensure that the mainframe can be used with new technology has
succeeded and respondents acknowledge its adoption of new stuff while keeping
the heart of the business running.

There are a lot of these types of insights in this report, and you
should definitely download the
report and read it yourself. But here are a few additional highlights
that I want to make sure you do not miss out on reading about:

The mainframe remains as the most important data server at many
shops. 51% of survey respondents cite that more than half of their data resides
on the mainframe.

And most of the primary
growth areas are trending up in terms of mainframe growth. Mainframe
environments are handling significant increases in the number of databases and
transaction volumes as well as an increasing trend in data volume.

And 70% of large companies are forecasting that the mainframe will experience capacity growth over the course of the next 2 years.Of course, challenges remain. According to the survey the top
three challenges are the same as they have been recently: cost control,
staffing and skills shortages, and executive perception of the mainframe as a
long-term solution. So we, as mainframe proponents need to keep banging the
drum to get the word out about our favorite, and still viable, platform for
enterprise computing – the mainframe.

So download the survey and
read all about the state of the mainframe 2018… because the future of the
platform is bright, and it will only get brighter with your knowledge and
support.

Monday, September 10, 2018

No, the mainframe is not dead… far from it. And BMC
Software continues to be there with innovative tools to help you
manage, optimize, and deploy your mainframe applications and systems.

BMC, Db2
for z/OS, and Next Generation Technology

One place that BMC continues to innovate is in the realm
of Db2 for z/OS utilities. Not just by extending what they have done in the
past, but by starting fresh and rethinking the current
requirements in terms of the modern IT landscape encompassing big
data and digital transformation requirements.

Think about it. If you were going to build high-speed,
online utilities for Db2 today, would you build them based on technology from
the 1980s? For those of us who have been around since the beginning it is
sometimes hard to believe that Db2 for z/OS was first released for GA back in
1983! That means that Db2 is 35 years old this year. And so are the old utility
programs for loading, backing up, reorganizing and recovering Db2 data. Sure,
they’ve been updated and improved over the years, but they are built on the
same core technology as they were “back in the day.”

BMC
High Speed Utilities with Next Generation Technology are
modern data management solutions for Db2 with a centralized, intelligent
architecture designed specifically to handle the complex problems facing IT
today. They were engineered from the ground up with an understanding of today’s
data management challenges, such as large amounts of data, structured and
unstructured data, and 24/7 requirements. Through intelligent policy-driven
automation, BMC’s NGT utilities for Db2 can help you to manage growing amounts
of data with ease while providing full application availability.

The NGT utilities require no sorting. Think about that. A
Reorg that does not have to sort the data can dramatically reduce CPU and disk
usage. And that makes it possible for larger database objects to be processed
with a fraction of the resources that would otherwise be required.

Furthermore, BMC is keeping up with the latest and
greatest features and functionality from IBM for z/OS and Db2. Using BMC’s
utilities for Db2 you can implement IBM’s Pervasive Encryption capabilities
with confidence because BMC’s database utilities for DB2 (and IMS) support
pervasive encryption.

With NGT utilities for Db2 you can automate
your environment like never before. Wouldn’t you like to free up
valuable DBA time from rote tasks like generating JCL and coding complex,
arcane utility scripts? That way your DBAs can focus on more timely, critical
tasks like supporting development, optimization, and assuring data integrity.

Customers report that NGT utilities have helped them to:

run Reorgs that otherwise would have failed
altogether or taken too much time,

reduce CPU and elapsed time,

eliminate downtime,

lower DASD consumption by eliminating external
SORT, and

simplify their Db2 utility processing.

By deploying BMC Db2 NGT utilities you can stay current
and utilize Db2 to the extremes often required by current business processes
and projects.

There’s
more…

Although there is always that lingering meme that the mainframe
is dying, it really isn’t even close to reality. Last quarter (July 2018), IBM’s
earning were fueled by mainframe sales more than anything else. So the mainframe is alive and well and
so is BMC!

BMC
understands that a
changing world demands innovation… the company is actively developing tools that serve the
thriving mainframe ecosystem, not just for Db2 for z/OS. Tools that build on
BMC’s long mainframe heritage, but are designed to address today’s IT needs.
For example, BMC’s MLC
cost reduction solutions focus on one of the mainframe world’s biggest current
requirements: making the mainframe more cost-effective.

BMC also offers a complete suite of management and optimization tools
for IMS, which still runs
some of the most important and performance-sensitive business workloads out
there! Their Mainview performance management solutions and Control-M scheduling
and automation solutions are stalwarts in the industry. Not even to mention
that BMC has partnered with CorreLog to strengthen
mainframe security capabilities.

Summary

BMC is active in the mainframe world, with new and
innovative solutions to help you get the most out of your zSystems. It makes
sense for organizations looking to optimize their mainframe usage to take a
look at what BMC can
offer.